This specification relates generally to cloud computing. Cloud computing is a computing model developed to enable convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be provisioned and released quickly, dynamically, and with minimal manual management efforts and human interactions with the service providers.
A few common cloud-based service models include, Software (e.g., commercially-available software applications) as a Service (SaaS), Platform (e.g., hosting environment of software applications, such as virtual machines or application frameworks) as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure (e.g., compute power, storage, database, networking services, etc.) as a Service (IaaS). Before a cloud-based service is made available to a cloud-service customer, various aspects of the service are configured according to a configuration specification, such that when the service is deployed, it meets the customer's needs and usage demand.